The present invention relates to vehicle door beams and more particularly to one-piece vehicle door beams.
Vehicle door beams are widely used in the automotive industry to enhance the impact strength of vehicle doors and thereby to enhance passenger safety. Door beams can be manufactured as a single piece. Examples of one-piece beams produced by roll forming are illustrated in co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/822,658 filed Mar. 30, 2001 by Nees and U.S. Pat. No. 5,756,167 issued May 26, 1998 to Tamura et al. Examples of one-piece beams produced by stamping or pressing are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,718 issued Sep. 29, 1998 to Masuda et al and Japanese Patent Publication 4-238725 dated Aug. 26, 1992. While these door beams represented advancements in the art, artisans continue to seek door beams of the desired strength, but with smaller profiles, less material, and/or increased ease of manufacture.